Some 3,000 delegates from the United States and Canada convened here today for the opening session of the four-day convention of the National Committee for Labor Israel. This year’s “Twin Jubilees” convention will mark the 50th anniversaries of the kibbutz movement and of Kupat Holim, the Histadrut health program in Israel.

In a cabled message to the convention, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion hailed the friendship of the American labor movement which “brought strength and encouragement not only to Histadrut but to the development of our country as a whole.” In another message, Israeli Finance Minister Levi Eshkol described the National Committee as a “vital instrument for forging strong links of solidarity” between Israel and the United States.